


If Things Had Been Different

by bfrizzz



Category: Demi Lovato (Musician), Jonas Brothers
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Historical, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-08
Updated: 2013-12-08
Packaged: 2018-01-03 23:40:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,613
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1074419
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bfrizzz/pseuds/bfrizzz
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Summary: 72 years in the past, the US is under attack. Nick Jonas and Demi Lovato have never met before but find comfort in each other in the aftermath of the events of Pearl Harbor.</p>
            </blockquote>





	If Things Had Been Different

As Nick lays there, clutching the open wound in his stomach, he thinks about how just doing one thing different today could’ve possibly changed his fate. He could’ve gone to church. He could’ve taken a different route on his run. He damn well could’ve just stayed home. He could’ve done any one of those things and maybe, just maybe, he wouldn’t be lying on the hot asphalt dying.

Yeah, he already accepts the fact that he’s not going to make it.  
There were others around him, who had also gotten shot, but their screams had died down by now and Nick knows what that means. He’ll probably join them soon, but now he takes a moment to look up at the sky. The planes are gone, but there are only few clouds in the sky and it is the prettiest blue Nick has ever seen. How ironic that it would be one of the nicest days in Pearl Harbor and he and hundreds of others are dying.

But, in all fairness, at least the sky will be a beautiful thing for Nick to look at before he finally shuts his eyes forever. He’s starting to get sleepy so maybe he could just close his eyes now, fall asleep, and just never wake up again. That’s starting to sound nice, so his eyes slowly close, his free hand clutches the blood stained dog tags hanging from his neck, and he is about to fall asleep when he hears a strangled cry near him.

"Help."

It’s a female’s voice and Nick has no idea why, but he decides to open his eyes once more and turn his attention towards the voice.

There’s a girl over to his left in a nursing outfit, Nick’s surprised he has never seen on her base before, but she’s clutching a wound that looks similar to his, and crawling in his direction.

"Over here." Nick calls out in a hoarse voice. The girl looks up at Nick and his breath catches. Beneath the blood and dirt that’s covering her face, Nick could tell that she’s beautiful.

The girl uses all her effort to make her way towards him, and she smiles when she reaches him which gives Nick a little bit of hope. “Nice day to get shot, huh?” She jokes before coughing a couple times. “Sorry, I deal with pain by making bad jokes.”

Nick laughs. “Trust me, it’s okay. I could use a good laugh or two before I go.”

"You don’t even have a little bit of hope that you’ll make it?" The girl asks, positioning herself so that she’s lying next to him.

"Kind of hard when you’re gushing blood out of your stomach." Nick glances down at his wound. "How can you stay so positive when you’re in the same condition as me?"

She shrugs and lets out a small laugh. “I really don’t know. I’ve just been through a lot of shit where the only thing I can hang on to is my positivity and belief that something better is around the corner.”

"Well, what’s our something better?"

There’s a pause. “Heaven.” She answers.

Nick smiles to himself. “I like that answer.”

"I’m Demi by the way." The girl says after a few moments of silence.

"Nick."

"It’s nice to meet you, Nick. Too bad we had to meet under these circumstances."

"You mean you normally don’t meet people when you’re getting shot at?" Nick jokes and they both laugh.

"So what do you like to do, Nick?" Demi asks, changing the subject.

"You mean what did I like to do?"

"No," Demi objects sternly "what do you like to do?"

Nick smiles down at her. He admires her positive energy. “Music. I love making music.”

"What kind of music?"

"Any and all music. What do you like to do?"

"I like music too. Mostly singing."

"Can you sing me something?"

"Only if you sing along with me."

"Alright, what song would you-" Nick’s cut off by Demi coughing next to him, and it’s bad. She’s coughing up blood, so Nick wraps his arm around her and pulls her close. He tries not to think about how perfectly she fits in his arms as he rubs her back and waits for the coughing to stop.

"It hurts, Nick." He hears Demi cry out against his chest.

"I know." He says, pulling her just a bit closer. There’s no use in consoling her, really. They both know they’re not going to make it.

Demi coughs a few more times and then there’s silence. Nick’s breathing hitches because he thinks she’s dead. He’s too afraid to look at her, so he keeps rubbing her back and keeping his eyes focused on the light blue sky above him.

"What do you think Heaven is like?" Demi asks, breaking the silence and Nick lets out a breath.

He pauses before answering. “I think it’ll be the most beautiful place we will ever see.”

"Even more beautiful than Maui?"

Nick laughs. “Surprisingly yeah. And everyone we know that has died is going to greet us at the gates with the biggest smiles on their faces.”

"And we’re gonna fly around with wings and halos and do angel things all day."

Again, Nick laughs. It’s crazy to think that even in these circumstances this one girl can make him smile. She is definitely special and Nick can already feel a deep connection to her and it’s not just because they’re dying together. Nick doesn’t want to think about any future with her, even though his mind is drifting towards those thoughts. He can see her and Joe goofing off and playing pranks on each other, Nick and her playing a piano and softly singing together, the two of them getting married - Nick shakes his head to stop the thoughts, but that action just makes him dizzy. He takes a couple deep breaths to regain some sort of healthy feeling.

"And you and I are going to sing all the time, at the top of our lungs." Demi continues.

"I like that very much." Nick says just before another jolt of pain surges through his body. All his muscles flex and he grits his teeth, waiting for the pain to subside.

Demi tries to sooth him as much as she can, but Nick can tell she’s hurting too. Her hand slowly rubs his chest. “Why do you think God did this?”

"God didn’t do this. Those damn pilots of those damn planes did." Nick says, not hiding the anger in his voice. All of this talk of the US joining the war over seas won’t just be rumors anymore. Hell, Nick would be the first to hop in a fighter plane and give those Japs a taste of their own medicine.

"But still, don’t you think he has a purpose for everything?"

"It’s hard to find a purpose in this, but," Nick takes a deep breath "it did bring us together, so I guess that could be the purpose?"

"You think God would bring us into each other’s lives just to meet for a few minutes?"

"Why not? God brings people into our lives for years and sometimes they don’t do anything for us. I’d say you’ve impacted my life more than most people I’ve met." Nick looks down at her and smiles.

Demi smiles back. “I like you, Nick. You’re good people.”

"You’re pretty swell yourself. And," Nick’s not sure if he should say this, but he wants to. He wants her to know before they die. "If things were different, I think I could’ve fallen in love with you."

The two of them stare into each other’s eyes and Nick has the urge to kiss her, but he feels that it’ll be more painful than the bullet wounds in his body, so instead he gives her another smile and changes the subject. “Come on, we have a song to sing.” He gently squeezes her but he can see that it causes her pain when she winces.

"Have a jingle in mind?" Demi asks, but Nick can hear in her voice that she’s growing weaker. Or maybe she just feels awkward after what he just told her. But he thinks it’s the former because he’s starting to get sleepy again and he doesn’t think anyone’s voice will wake him the next time he closes his eyes.

Nick slightly nods his head. Any movement, even a nod of the head, hurts now. It won’t be much longer because he’s somewhere over the rainbow, which is the song he begins to softly sing.

Out of the corner of his eye, Nick catches Demi smirking at him as she listens to him for the first few lines. She then joins him after that and the two sing in unison until Nick only hears his voice near the end of the song. Ignoring the searing pain, Nick turns his head to take one last look at her. Using all the strength he has, Nick leans in and kisses her forehead.

——————————————

Their bodies are found hours later by Nurse Laura, another nurse that had been on the same base as Nick and Demi. The nurses were given the order to look for anyone still alive, but when Laura found these two she immediately stops because, even though there were hundreds dead around her, these two stuck out. Unlike all the other bodies that were spread apart and alone, these two were embraced in each other’s arms with Nick’s lips still pressing against Demi’s forehead. They became known as “The Lovers of Pearl Harbor” even though both of their families swear they didn’t know each other.


End file.
